{{Short description|Romanian serial killer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}} {{Infobox serial killer | name = | native_name = Баба Анујка | native_name_lang = sr | image = Baba-Anujka.jpg | caption = Baba Anujka during the 1929 trial | birth_name = Ana Drakšin | other_names = The Banat Witch<br>The Witch of Vladimirovac | birth_date = 1 July 1838 | birth_place = Malovăț, Romania | death_date = 1 September 1938<br/>(aged 100) | death_place = Vladimirovac, Yugoslavia | cause = | victims = 50–150 | country = Kingdom of Yugoslavia | beginyear = | endyear = 1928 | apprehended = June 1928 | penalty = 15 years imprisonment with hard labour | conviction = Murder | conviction_status = Deceased }} '''Ana di Pištonja''',{{refn|Also known as '''Anna Pistova''',<ref name="Angola"/> '''Anujka de Poshtonja''',<ref name="Honolulu"/> or '''Anyuka Dee'''<ref name="Herald Tribune"/> in English sources, and '''Anuica di Piștonea''' in Romanian sources,<ref name="Both">{{cite web | url=https://adevarul.ro/locale/timisoara/povestea-infioratoare-romancei-considerate-mai-mare-criminal-serie-istoria-serbiei-baba-anuica-di-pistonea-ucis-planta-demonica-1_57c2d69f5ab6550cb82a997f/index.html | title=Povestea înfiorătoare a româncei considerate cea mai mare criminală în serie din istoria Serbiei. Baba Anuica di Piştonea a ucis cu "planta demonică" | publisher=adev.ro | date=29 August 2016 | access-date=30 July 2019 | author=Both, Stefan}}</ref> and nicknamed by the media the '''Banat Witch''',<ref name="Herald Tribune"/> '''The Witch of Vladimirovac''',<ref name="Angola"/> and '''Little Mother Anjuschka'''.|group="note"}} (née '''Drakšin'''<ref name=Novosti/> or '''Draxin''')<ref name="Both"/> better known as '''Baba Anujka''',{{refn|"Baba" means "grandmother" in Serbo-Croatian, while "Anujka" (Anuica) is the Romanian diminutive form of the name Ana. "Baba Anujka" translates literally to "Grandmother Annie".|group="note"}} ({{lang-sr-cyr|Баба Анујка}}; c. 1836 or 1838 – 1 September 1938) was a Serbo-Romanian convicted Serial killer and amateur chemist from the village of Vladimirovac, which was during her life part of the Austrian Empire, Austria-Hungary and eventually Yugoslavia. She poisoned at least 50 people and possibly as many as 150 in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She was apprehended in 1928 at age 90 and sentenced to 15 years in prison in 1929 as an accomplice in two murders. She was released due to old age after spending eight years in prison.
==Early life and marriage== Data is scarce and unreliable about Anujka's early life. According to some sources, she was born in 1838 in Romania (which at the time was actually the Principality of Wallachia, the Principality of Moldavia, and might also be referring to some other areas then in the Austrian Empire) to a rich cattleman and moved to Vladimirovac in the Banat Military Frontier province of the Austrian Empire around 1849.<ref name="Angola"/> However, she claimed that she was born in 1836.<ref name="Politika 5"/><ref name=":0" /> She attended private school in Pančevo with children from rich families, and later lived in her father's house.<ref name="Tagblatt">{{cite journal | url=https://unknownmisandry.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-worlds-oldest-serial-killer-baba.html | title=Der Giftmord-Prozess gegen die 92jährige Baba Anujka. Die Hexe von Wadimorovac ist wegen zehnsachen Giftmordes angeklagt | trans-title=The poisoning trial of 92-year-old Baba Anujka. The witch of Wadimorovac is charged with ten counts of poisoning|journal=Tagblatt |language=de| issue=9 July 1929 | pages=8 | location=Linz, Austria| date=14 October 2018 }}</ref> She allegedly became a misanthropist at age 20 after being seduced by a young Austrian military officer; she contracted syphilis from him before he left her broken-hearted. After that, she sought seclusion and started to show interest in medicine and chemistry. She spoke five languages.<ref name="Angola"/><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-09-20 |title=Priča o babi Anujki, "banatskoj trovačici i prvoj serijskoj ubici u Srbiji" |url=https://www.bbc.com/serbian/lat/srbija-69071371 |access-date=2024-10-04 |website=BBC News na srpskom |language=sr-Latn}}</ref> She later married a landowner named Pistov or di Pištonja with whom she had 11 children, only one of whom survived to adulthood.<ref name="Angola"/><ref name="Tagblatt"/> Her husband was much older than she, and died after 20 years of marriage.<ref name="Tagblatt"/> She continued to pursue her chemistry studies after his death.<ref name="Angola"/><ref name="Tagblatt"/>
==Experiments in herbalism== Anujka made a laboratory in one wing of her house after her husband died,<ref name="Angola"/><ref name="Tagblatt"/> and she earned a reputation as a healer and herbalist in the late 19th century.<ref name="Tagblatt"/> She was popular with wives of farmers who sought her help for health problems, and she earned a respectable income which enabled her to live comfortably.<ref name="Herald Tribune">{{cite journal | url=https://unknownmisandry.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-witch-of-vladimirovac-anujka-de.html | title=Jugoslav 'Witch' On Trial at 93 As Slayer of 50 – Adviser of Farmers' Wives Accused of Poison to Many Men for Pay | journal=New York Herald Tribune| issue=23 June 1929 | pages=section II, p. 1 | location=New York| date=26 November 2013 }}</ref> She produced medicines and mixtures which would make soldiers ill enough to escape military service,<ref name=Novosti/> and she also sold poisonous mixtures which she branded "magic water"<ref name="Honolulu">{{cite news |title=Aged Woman In Jugoslav Poison Plot. Score of Wealthy Husbands Cleverly Disposed of by Relatives. 'Witch' Supplies Peasant Women With 'Magic Water' For a Price |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/274888570/?terms=%22magic%2Bwater%22%2Bpoison |access-date=13 September 2019 |work=Honolulu Star-Bulletin |agency=Associated Press |date=2 August 1928 |location=Honolulu, Hawaii |page=1}}</ref> or "love potions".<ref name="Angola">{{cite news |title=Aged Love Poisoner May Have Killed 60. Claims "Love Potions" Were Given as Tonics |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/355296157/?terms=%22love%2Bpotion%22%2Bpoison |access-date=13 September 2019 |work=The Angola Record |date=8 August 1929 |location=Angola, New York, US |page=6}}</ref> She sold the so-called "magic water" mostly to married women; they would give the concoction to their husbands, who would usually die after about eight days.<ref name=Novosti/>
Anujka's "love potion" contained arsenic in small quantities and certain plant toxins that were difficult to detect.<ref name="Blatt">{{cite journal | url=https://unknownmisandry.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-worlds-oldest-serial-killer-baba.html | title=Prozess gegen die 93jährige Giftmilcherin |trans-title=Trial against the 93-year-old poison-mixer| journal=Das Interessante Blatt|language=de | issue=4 July 1929 | pages=6 | location=Vienna| date=14 October 2018 }}</ref> When told about a marriage problem, Anujka would ask her client, "How heavy is that problem?", which meant, "What does he weigh?" She was then able to calculate the dose needed.<ref name=Novosti>{{cite web| url=https://www.novosti.rs/vesti/naslovna/reportaze/aktuelno.293.html:792782-BANATSKA-VESTICA-ZAVILA-VLADIMIROVAC-U-CRNO-Baba-Anujka-je-bila-prvi-serijski-ubica-u-Srbiji-ubila-150-ljudi | title=Baba Anujka je bila prvi serijski ubica u Srbiji, ubila 150 ljudi|language=sr|trans-title=Baba Anujka Was the First Serial Killer in Serbia, Killed 150 Persons| publisher=Večernje Novosti |date=5 May 2019}}</ref> Anujka's victims were usually men, typically young and healthy.<ref name="Urbeiter">{{cite journal | url=https://unknownmisandry.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-worlds-oldest-serial-killer-baba.html | title=Die Giftmischerin von Vladimirovac. Grosses Männersterben in der Woiwodina | trans-title=The poisoner of Vladimirovac. Widespread male death in Voivodina|journal=Urbeiter-Zeitung | issue=11 June 1929 | pages=6 | location=Vienna | language=de| date=14 October 2018 }}</ref> Her clients claimed at her trial that they did not know that her "magic water" contained poison, but that they believed that she had some kind of supernatural powers to kill people using magic.<ref name="Politika 1">{{cite journal | url=http://www.digitalna.nb.rs/wb/NBS/novine/politika/1929/06/18#page/7/mode/1up | title=Баба Анујка, банатска тровачица, пред судом | language=sr | trans-title=Baba Anujka, Poisoner from Banat, at Trial | author=C. | journal=Politika | issue=18 June 1929 | pages=7–8 }}</ref> Anujka's potions killed between 50<ref name="Blatt"/> and 150 people.<ref name=Novosti/>
In the 1920s, Anujka had her own "sales agent", a woman named Ljubina Milankov, whose job was to find potential clients and take them to Anujka's house.<ref name="Politika 5"/> The price of Anujka's "magic water" fluctuated between 2,000 and 10,000 Yugoslav dinars.<ref name="Blatt"/>
==Momirov murders== Anujka sold her "magic water" to Stana Momirov in January 1924 for 2,300 dinars.<ref name="Politika 5">{{cite journal | url=http://www.digitalna.nb.rs/wb/NBS/novine/politika/1929/11/30#page/6/mode/1up | title=Баба Анујка пред апелацијом | language=sr | trans-title=Baba Anujka Appeals | journal=Politika | issue=30 November 1929 | pages=7 }}</ref> Stana was a previous client and Anujka had provided her with herbal medicines on other occasions. Stana gave the mixture to her husband Lazar Ludoški, and he fell ill and died after a few days.<ref name="Honolulu"/><ref name="Politika 1"/> Stana later married another man from the same village. A rich uncle of her second husband died under similar circumstances within a few months.<ref name="Honolulu"/> The police questioned Stana, and she incriminated Anujka.<ref name="Honolulu"/>
Anujka then sold her magic water in December 1926 to Sima Momirov and his wife Sofija, who intended to kill Sima's 70-year-old father, Nikola Momirov. Their motive involved a family quarrel. According to their claim, Nikola was an alcoholic and abusive towards his children and grandchildren. Sofija heard about Anujka from a woman named Danica Stojić (or Stajić), and they contacted Anujka who sold them her magic water for 5,000 dinars.<ref name="Tagblatt"/> Sofija gave it to 16-year-old Olga Sturza, Nikola's granddaughter, and ordered her to ensure that Nikola drank it. Nikola drank the potion, fell ill, and died after 15 days.<ref name="Politika 1"/>
==Trials== Anujka's first trial was in June 1914 in Bela Crkva for providing poison for murders, but she was acquitted.<ref name="Tagblatt"/><ref name="Politika 1"/> She was arrested again on 15 May 1928 at age 90.<ref name=Novosti/> Stana, Sofija, and Sima Momirov, Ljubina Milankov, Danica Stojić and Olga Sturza were arrested as well and charged with the murders of Nikola Momirov and Lazar Ludoški.<ref name="Gassburger">{{cite news |title=Die "Hexe von Vladimirovac" (The Witch of Vladimoravec) |url=https://unknownmisandry.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-worlds-oldest-serial-killer-baba.html |access-date=13 September 2019 |work=Gassburger Chronic |date=15 July 1929 |location=Austria |page=3 |language=de}}</ref> The authorities exhumed the bodies of the victims for autopsies performed at the University of Belgrade.<ref name="Urbeiter"/><ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71160355 |title=Witch And Wholesale Poisoner|newspaper=Worker |volume=40 |issue=1990 |location=Queensland, Australia |date=26 June 1929 |access-date=19 September 2019 |page=19 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
The trial began in June 1929 at the District Court in Pančevo, and the hearings took place on 18 and 19 June. The trial continued on 1 July when results were available from chemical testing of samples found in Anujka's house, at which time the prosecutor and defence attorneys gave closing statements. The prosecutor sought the death penalty for all defendants except Sturza, who was a minor at the time of the murder and for whom he sought a prison sentence.<ref name="Politika 3">{{cite journal | url=http://www.digitalna.nb.rs/wb/NBS/novine/politika/1929/07/02#page/8/mode/1up | title=Пресуда баба-Анујки биће изречена у суботу | language=sr | trans-title=Baba Anujka Verdict Will be Delivered this Sathurday | author=K. | journal=Politika | issue=2 July 1929 | pages=8 }}</ref>
Sofija and Sima Momirov defended themselves at the trial. They claimed that they did not know that the "magic water" contained poison; they believed that it was just water and that the death came as a result of Anujka's supernatural powers. Stana Momirov claimed that she only wanted the magic water to heal her husband from alcoholism and that she was not aware that it would kill him. During the trial, Anujka constantly denied charges, claiming that she never sold any magic water and that the whole case against her was fabricated by Ljubina Milankov, who wanted to blame Anujka for her own crimes. Sturza defended herself, claiming that she was still a child at the time of the murder and that she was not aware that the water would kill her grandfather; but Sofija testified that Sturza was well aware of the whole plot.<ref name="Politika 1"/> Dr. Branko Vurdelja, expert witness, testified that traces of arsenic were found in the bodies of both victims.<ref name="Politika 2">{{cite journal | url=http://www.digitalna.nb.rs/wb/NBS/novine/politika/1929/06/19#page/7/mode/1up | title=Претрес је одложен за 1 јули | language=sr | trans-title=Trial Hearings Postponed to 1 July | author=K. | journal=Politika | issue=19 June 1929 | pages=7 }}</ref>
The verdict was delivered on 6 July 1929. Anujka was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the role of accomplice in both murders.<ref name="Tagblatt"/> Stana and Sofija Momirov were sentenced to life in prison as the main perpetrators. Sima Momirov was sentenced to 15 years, and Ljubina Milankov to 8 years. Olga Sturza and Danica Stojić were acquitted.<ref name="Politika 4">{{cite journal | url=http://www.digitalna.nb.rs/wb/NBS/novine/politika/1929/07/07#page/7/mode/1up | title=Баба Анујка осуђена је на 15 година робије | language=sr | trans-title=Baba Anujka is Sentenced to 15 Years | author=K. | journal=Politika | issue=7 July 1929 | pages=7 }}</ref>
===Appeal=== Both the prosecutor and the defendants appealed the verdict to the Appellate Court in Novi Sad, and that trial took place on 29 and 30 November 1929. The prosecutor demanded capital punishment for all defendants. After some cross-examination, Sima and Sofija Momirov admitted that they knew about the poison from the start, but all defendants stood by their previous statements otherwise.<ref name="Politika 5"/> The verdict was delivered on 30 November 1929. Anujka was re-sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labour,<ref name="Indianapolis">{{cite news |title=Gets Hard Labor |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/37508696/?terms=%22Baba%2BAnujka%22 |access-date=13 September 2019 |work=The Indianapolis News |agency=AP |date=2 December 1929 |location=Indianapolis, Indiana, US |page=32}}</ref> and Stana and Sofija Momirov were re-sentenced to life in prison. Sima Momirov's sentence was increased from 15 years to life, and Ljubina Milankov's sentence was increased from 8 to 10 years. Sturza and Stojić were again acquitted.<ref name="Politika 6">{{cite journal | url=http://www.digitalna.nb.rs/wb/NBS/novine/politika/1929/12/01#page/9/mode/1up | title=Пресуда банатској тровачици | language=sr | trans-title=Verdict for Banat Poisoner | author=D. Đ. | journal=Politika | issue=1 December 1929 | pages=10 }}</ref>
Anujka then appealed to the Court of cassation in Novi Sad.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=5 March 1930 |title=Баба Анујка пред Касацијом |url=https://istorijskenovine.unilib.rs/view/index.html#panel:pp|issue:UB_00043_19300305|page:4 |journal=Vreme |pages=4}}</ref> The trial at the Court of cassation was held on 5 March 1930, and the court upheld Anujka's sentence.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=7 March 1930 |title=Баба Анујка пред Касацијом |url=https://istorijskenovine.unilib.rs/view/index.html#panel:pp|issue:UB_00043_19300307|page:4 |journal=Vreme |pages=4}}</ref>
=== Sentence === Anujka spent her sentence in the women's prison in Požarevac. She was visited there in May 1934 by a group of law students and journalists. She was held in the prison hospital at that time.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=20 May 1934 |title=Један дан у пожаревачким казаматима |url=http://istorijskenovine.unilib.rs/view/index.html#panel:pp|issue:UB_00042_19340520|page:13|query:%D0%B1%D0%B0%D0%B1%D0%B0%20%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%83%D1%98%D0%BA%D0%B0 |journal=Pravda |issue=10610 |pages=13}}</ref>
She was released from prison in 1936 due to old age, after spending 8 years there. When visited by journalists after her release, Anujka maintained innocence and denied participating in poisonings.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Atanacković |first=Ž. R. |date=6 October 1936 |title=Тровачица баба Анујка вратила се са робије коју је "за инатиздржала" иако има равно 100 година |url=http://istorijskenovine.unilib.rs/view/index.html#panel:pp|issue:UB_00043_19361006|article:div3285|query:%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%83%D1%98%D0%BA%D0%B0 |journal=Vreme |issue=5290 |pages=12}}</ref> She died two years later in her house in Vladimirovac, on 1 September 1938, at the age of 100.<ref name="Novosti" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Misterija kuće baba Anujke, najvećeg serijskog ubice u Srbiji: Srušena je, i neko je na tom mestu napravio ovo... |url=https://www.telegraf.rs/vesti/srbija/3223914-baba-anujka-serijski-ubica-u-srbiji-selo-vladimirovac |access-date=25 August 2022 |website=Telegraf.rs |date=16 August 2020 |language=sr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Everyday |first=Vintage |date=6 June 2021 |title=The Story of Baba Anujka, the World's Oldest Serial Killer |url=https://vintagenewsdaily.com/the-story-of-baba-anujka-the-worlds-oldest-serial-killer/ |access-date=26 August 2022 |website=Vintage News Daily |language=en-US}}</ref>
==See also== *Angel Makers of Nagyrév *List of serial killers by country *List of serial killers before 1900 *Maria Swanenburg
==Notes== {{reflist|group="note"}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== *{{cite book | title=Baba Anujka : vračara iz Vladimirovca | publisher=Istorijski arhiv | author=Đarmati, Šimon | year=2007 | location=Pančevo | isbn=978-86-83347-46-9 | language=sr}}
==External links== *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnykYTZOBuY] RTV documentary on Baba Anujka *[https://unknownmisandry.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-worlds-oldest-serial-killer-baba.html The World's Oldest Serial Killer: "Baba Anujka" (Баба Анујка)] *[https://unknownmisandry.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-witch-of-vladimirovac-anujka-de.html "The Witch of Vladimirovac", Anujka de Poshtonja (Anna Pistova), Professional Husband-Poisoner – 1928]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Anujka, Baba}} Category:1830s births Category:1938 deaths Category:Austrian female serial killers Category:Yugoslav people Category:Serbian women centenarians Category:Romanian women centenarians Category:People from the Austrian Empire Category:Criminals from Austria-Hungary Category:Romanian serial killers Category:People from Alibunar Category:Poisoners Category:Yugoslav murderers Category:Austrian serial killers Category:Serbian chemists Category:Romanian chemists Category:19th-century businesswomen